Sustainable HKMA

Climate targets

Building on our ongoing green office initiatives, the HKMA aims to achieve net-zero in Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 (business air travel) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions¹ across all areas of its corporate operations by 2050 or earlier.

As its interim emissions reduction targets, the HKMA plans to completely eliminate Scope 1 emissions through transitioning all existing cars to electric vehicles, and reduce the intensity of Scope 2 emissions by 63% by 2030 through various decarbonisation, energy saving, and offsetting strategies, using 2015 as the base year.

While there are challenges in determining Scope 3 emissions, the HKMA will endeavour to mitigate GHG emissions, as far as practicable, from various sources included within Scope 3 emissions, such as paper consumption, waste generation and business air travel. The HKMA also plans to make use of carbon insetting tools to reduce emissions within its value chain and carbon offsetting initiatives for emissions that are difficult to abate.

The HKMA’s long-term and interim emissions reduction targets are developed with reference to the Science Based Targets initiative methodology. These levels of reduction align with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

As we take measures to prevent, reduce or eliminate sources of GHG emissions, we will report our GHG emissions on a regular basis. In this regard, we have appointed Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency to verify the HKMA’s target setting approach as well as our emissions, energy and paper consumption, and waste data.

To deliver on our commitments, our priority is to implement decarbonisation strategies, including:

• Incorporating environmental considerations in designing, operating and maintaining our office premises and data centres, with a view to obtaining relevant green accreditations from authoritative certification bodies;
• Switching all HKMA-owned cars to electric vehicles to achieve green mobility;
• Boosting energy efficiency via technology adoption and optimisation measures;
• Introducing digital tools and technologies to enhance virtual collaboration within the organisation, automating and streamlining workflows, and adopting eco-friendly business practices;
• Advocating a green culture within the organisation, promoting the four ‘R’ principles of refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle to minimise waste generation and manage waste disposal; and
• Taking into account the factors of sustainability and environmental friendliness in our procurement practices, in addition to aligning with the green specifications on the Government’s Green Procurement List.

Find out more about our strategies and performance in managing our environmental impact on pages 49 to 57 of the Sustainability Report 2023.

Catalysing transition

The HKMA promotes an environmentally friendly marketplace and encourages environmentally responsible behaviour, advocating measures that enhance operational efficiency and minimise resource consumption for the HKMA, the financial industry and the economy:

• Enabling electronic submissions of reports and regulatory data by banks to the HKMA, and disseminating information to banks electronically;
• Recirculating coins through the Coin Collection Programme; and
• Encouraging the public to adopt electronic payments, by promoting the use of the Faster Payment System and Stored Value Facilities, in particular, giving out electronic lai sees and using good-as-new banknotes during the Chinese New Year.

¹As defined by the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard

Our staff are valuable assets of the HKMA.  We promote work-life balance and seek to foster a healthy and inclusive workplace that enhances staff’s well-being.  We value every employee’s opinion and provide various communication tools for staff to offer their advice and express concerns.

In fulfilling our social responsibility, we look beyond the immediate corporate boundaries to upstream and downstream sectors to broaden our impacts. 

Volunteer and Charitable Activities

We are committed to giving back to the communities by encouraging our staff to participate in volunteer and charity work. We partner with various community organisations to address community causes. Examples of how our staff bring positive impact to our communities can be found on pages 65 to 69 of the Sustainability Report 2023.

Managing supply chain

We source goods and services from suppliers that uphold sustainability values. In selecting suppliers, we consider, among other things, a supplier’s track record in complying with labour and health and safety regulations. We engage with social enterprises, including them on our list of local vendors.

Community Engagement and Public Education

We actively run various community engagement and education initiatives through different communication channels and multiple media to promote smart and responsible use of banking and financial services. We also seek to help the public, particularly the young generation, to learn about developments and career opportunities in the financial industry in Hong Kong.

Advocating Financial Inclusion

To promote financial inclusion in Hong Kong, we work closely with the banking industry to enhance access to basic banking services by different segments of society. 

Find out more about the principles and recommended good practices set out in the industry guidelines for banks on banking services for people with physical, visual, hearing and intellectual impairments, and dementia on the webpage of the Hong Kong Association of Banks.